Government announces £100m funding boost for Lancashire’s road

A multi-million pound makeover fund is being injected into the North West’s highways network. The announcement from Highways England will see £104m invested into the region, with a total of 212 miles of motorway and trunk road lanes being resurfaced – equivalent to the distance from Manchester to Glasgow. John Lyssejko, North West service delivery team leader at Highways England, said: “These improvements will benefit the hundreds of thousands of drivers who travel on our roads every day. “This work is being carried out in addition to major road projects across the region, such as the smart motorway schemes, which will help cut journey times and improve the flow of traffic.” An extra 377 miles of white lanes will be painted alongside 42 miles of new safety barriers. Mr Lyssejko added: “We’ll do everything we can to minimise disruption by carrying out work overnight when possible so that drivers can experience better journeys across the north west.” The work will include upgrading more than nine miles of drainage and replacing almost six miles of boundary fences, as well as new cycling schemes, better pedestrian crossings and initiatives to reduce noise levels for people who live close to major roads. Work is also taking place on a £1.5m project to resurface an 11-mile stretch of the eastbound carriageway on the M55 between junction four at Blackpool and junction one at Broughton. Contractors have now completed work between junctions four and three, and began resurfacing the carriageway between junctions three and last… [Read full story]